Air Service Boys in the Big Battle; Or, Silencing the Big Guns

by E. J. Craine

  CHAPTER XXIV. SILENCING THE GERMAN GUNS

  Engagements in the World War were on such a vast scale that it wasdifficult for a single observer to give a word picture of them. All hecould see, stationed behind the lines, was a vast cataclysm of smokeand fire, and his ears were deafened by so vast a sound that it wascomparable to nothing on this earth ever heard before.

  An observer in the air was little better off, save for that portiondirectly beneath him, and even that he could not see very much of, onaccount of the smoke and dust. If he looked to the left or the right, orbackward or forward, he was at the disadvantage of distance.

  To him, then, great columns of infantry appeared only as crawling worms,and batteries of artillery merely patches of woods whence belched fireand smoke. That he must keep high in the air when over the enemy's lineswent without saying, for he would be fired at if he came too low. Sothen, even an airman's vision was limited when it came to describing agreat battle.

  Of course he always did what he was assigned to do. He kept in contact,or in communication, with his own certain batteries, or his infantrydivision, directing the shots of the former and the advance of thelatter. So, really, he had little time to observe anything save theeffect of the firing of his own side on a certain limited objective.

  As for the soldiers in battle, they are, of course, unable to observeanything except that which goes on immediately in their neighborhood.The artilleryman fires his gun under the direction of some observer,often far away, who telephones to him to lower or elevate his piece, ordeflect it to the tight or left. The infantryman advances as the barragelifts, and rushes forward according to orders, firing or using hisbayonet as the case may be, digging in when halted, and waiting foranother rush forward. The machine gunner and his squad aim to put asmany of the advancing, retreating, or standing enemy out of the fightingas possible, and to save themselves.

  The truck men hasten up with loads of ammunition, fortunate if they arenot sent to their death in the drive. The stretcher bearers look for thewounded and hasten back with them.

  So, all in all, no single person can observe more than a very small partof the great battle. It is really like looking through a microscopeat some organism, while the whole great body lies beyond the field ofvision.

  Only the general staff-the officers in their headquarters far behindthe lines, who receive reports as to how this division or corps isretreating or advancing--can have any real conception of the big battle,and these persons may see it only at a distance.

  So the usual process of things in general is reversed, and the personfarthest removed from the fighting may really see, or rather know, mostabout it.

  And so with a storm of shot and shell, manmade thunders and lightnings,and bolts of death from the earth below and the air above, the greatbattle opened and advanced.

  It progressed just as other battles had progressed. There was a terrificartillery preparation, which took the Germans evidently by surprise,for the response was long in coming, and then it was not in proportion.After the great cannon had done their best to level the big guns on theGerman side, a barrage, or curtain of fire was started, and behind this,which was in reality a falling hail of bullets, the Americans and theirsupporting French and British comrades advanced. The curtain of steelwas to kill or push back the Germans, and to make it safe for theAmericans to go forward. By elevating the small guns the curtain fellfarther and farther into the enemy's territory, thus making it possiblefor the Allies to go on farther and farther across No Man's Land.

  The infantry rushed forward, fighting and dying nobly in a noble cause.Position after position was consolidated as the Germans fell back beforethe rain of shot and shell. It is always this way in an offensive, smallor large. The first rush of the attacking side, be it German, French,British, or American, carries everything before it. It is the counterattack that tells. If the attackers are strong enough to hold what theygain, well and good. If not--the attack is a failure.

  But this one--the first great attack of the Americans--was not destinedto fail, though once it trembled in the balance.

  Tom and Jack, with their companions, had flown aloft, and, taking thestations assigned to them, did their part in the battle. As the lightgrew with the break of day, they could see the effect of the Americanbig guns. It was devastating. And yet some German batteries livedthrough it. Several times Tom and Jack, by means of their wireless,sent back corrections so that the American pieces might be aimed moreeffectively. Below them was a maelstrom--an indescribable chaos of deathand destruction. They only had glimpses of it--glimpses of a seeminglyinextricable mixture of men and guns.

  And through it all, though they did not for a moment neglect their duty,bearing in mind their instructions to keep in contact with the batteriesthey served, Tom Raymond and Jack Parmly were eagerly seeking for asight of the prison where Harry Leroy might be held. At one time afterthey had dropped bombs on some German positions, thereby demolishingthem, Tom, who was acting as pilot, signaled to his chum that he wasgoing far over the enemy's lines to try to locate the prison.

  Jack nodded an acquiescence. It was not entirely against orders whatthey were about to do. They might obtain valuable information, and itwould take only a short time, so speedy was their machine. Then too,they had used up all their bombs, and must return for more. Before doingthis they wished to make an observation.

  Luck was with them. They managed to pass over a comparatively quietsector of the lines where the German resistance had been wiped out, andwhere, even as they looked down, Americans were digging in and guns werebeing brought up to support them.

  And not many kilometers inside the German positions from this point,they sailed over a prison camp. They, knew it in an instant, and feltsure it must be the one spoken of by the German who had taken Leroy'sgold and then betrayed him.

  "That's the place!" cried Tom, though of course Jack could not hear him."Now to bomb it and set Harry free!"

  But they must return for more ammunition, and this they set about doing.They wished they might drop some word to the prisoners confined there,stating that help might soon be on its way to them, but they had nochance to send this cheering word.

  Back they rushed to their own lines, and no sooner had they landed thanan orderly rushed up to them and instructed them to report immediatelyto their commanding officer.

  "Boys, you're just in time!" he cried, all dignity or formality havingbeen set aside in the excitement of the great battle.

  "What is it?" asked Tom.

  "We want you to silence some big German guns--a nasty battery of themthat's playing havoc with our boys. The artillery hasn't been able tolocate 'em--probably they're too well camouflaged. And we can't advanceagainst 'em. Will you go up and try to put them out of business?"

  Of course there could be but one answer to this. Tom and Jack hurriedoff to see to the loading of their machine with bombs--an extra largenumber of very powerful ones being taken.

  Once more they were off on their dangerous mission, for it wasdangerous, since many American planes were brought down by German firethat day, and by attacks from other Hun machines.

  But Tom and Jack never faltered. Up and up they went, the probablelocation of the guns having been made known to them on the map theycarried. Up and onward they went. For a time they must forego the chanceof rescuing their friend.

  Straight for the indicated place they went, and just as they reachedit there came a burst of fire and smoke. It appeared to roll out froma little ravine well wooded on both sides, and that accounted for thefailure of the Americans to locate it. Chance had played into the handsof the air service boys.

  There was no need of word between Tom and Jack. The former headed theplane for the place whence the German guns had fired upon the Americans,killing and wounding many.

  Over it, for an instant, hovered the aeroplane. Then Jack touched thebomb releasing device. Down dropped the powerful explosive.

  There was a great upward blast of air which rocked the mach
ine in whichsat the two aviators. There was a burst of smoke and flame beneath them,tongues of fire seeming to reach up as though to pull them down.

  Then came a terrific explosion which almost deafened the boys, eventhough their ears were covered with the fur caps, and though their ownengine made a pandemonium of sound.

  The air was filled with flying debris--debris of the German guns andmen. The bombs dropped by Tom and Jack had accomplished their mission.The harassing battery was destroyed. The German guns were silenced.

  CHAPTER XXV. THE RESCUE

  Tom and Jack circled around slowly over the place where the Germanbattery had been. It was now no more--it could work no more havoc to theAmerican ranks. It did not need the wireless news to this effect, whichthe aviators sent back, to apprise the Allies of what had happened. Theyhad seen the harassing guns blown up.

  Now out swarmed the Americans, charging with savage yells over the placethat had been such a hindrance to their advance. Tom and Jack had donetheir work well.

  There was no need for the one to tell the other what was in his mind.There were still two of the powerful bombs left, and there was but onethought on this matter. They must be used to blow up, if possible,the camp near the German prison. Doing that would create havoc andconsternation enough, the air service boys thought, to drive the captorsaway, and enable Leroy and his fellow prisoners to be saved.

  Jack punched Tom in the back and motioned for him to shut off the motora moment so that talking would be possible. Tom did this, and Jackcried:

  "Shall we take a chance?"

  "Yes!" Tom answered in return.

  Strictly speaking, having accomplished the mission they were sent outon, they should have returned to their base for orders. But the airmenwere given more liberty of action and decision than any other branch ofthe Allied service.

  "Go to it!" cried Jack, and once more Tom started the motor and headedthe craft for the Hun prison.

  Again the air service boys were hovering over the prison camp. Theycould now see that there was much more activity around it than there hadbeen before the big battery was destroyed. The fight was coming closer,and the Germans evidently knew it. Whether they were trying to arrangeto take their captives farther back, or merely seeking to escapethemselves from a trap, was not then evident.

  And, having reached a position where they could see below them whatlooked to be a concentration of German guns, perhaps to fire on anyforce that might advance against the prison. Jack let fall one of histwo remaining bombs.

  It swerved to one side, and though it exploded with great force, andcreated havoc and consternation among the Huns, it did not fall where itwas intended. The second battery was still intact.

  "My last shot!" grimly mused Jack, as he looked at the other bomb.

  Tom maneuvered the aeroplane until he had it about where he thoughtJack would want it. The latter pressed the releasing lever and the bombdescended. It was the most powerful of the lot, and when it struck andexploded it not only demolished the defensive battery, making a hole inthe place where it had stood, but it tore down part of the prison fence,and made such destruction generally that the Germans were stunned.

  Instantly, seeing that all had been accomplished that was possible, andnoting that hovering around him were other Allied airmen who had agreedto help in the rescue, Tom sent his craft down. There was a burst ofshrapnel around him and Jack, but though the latter was grazed by abullet, neither was seriously hurt. A Hun plane darted down out ofthe sky to attack the bold Americans, but quickly it was engaged by asupporting Allied craft. However, the Hun was a good fighter, and wonthe battle against this antagonist. But when two other Allied planesclosed in, that was the last of the enemy. He was sent crashing down tosatisfy the vengeance in toll for the life of the birdman he had taken.

  Now Tom and Jack could see that their plan had worked better than theyhad dared to hope. The boldness of the attack from the air, coupled withthe advance of the American army, started a panic in the German ranks.They began a retreat and the regiments near the prison camp wereincluded in the rout.

  By this time either some of the prisoners saw that there was a break inthe cordon around them, or they realized that a great battle was puttingtheir guards to flight, for some of them made a rush toward a side wherethere were no Germans, and succeeded in breaking out--no hard task sincepart of the fence was shattered by the explosion.

  "Now's our chance," cried Tom, though of course Jack could not hearthis. "Harry may be among that bunch, and we want to get him and anyothers we can save."

  He started the aeroplane on its downward path, while Jack, guessing theobject, got the machine gun ready for action, since there might be asquad of Germans ready to give battle on the ground.

  Several other planes of the Allies, seeing what was going on, swooped tothe aid of the two Americans, for there were no other of the Hun craftwithin sight now. All had been sent crashing down, or had drawn off.

  On either side of the immediate sector which included the prison camp,the battle was still raging fiercely, mostly with success on the side ofthe Americans, though in places they suffered a temporary setback.

  In the vicinity of the prison itself wild scenes were now being enacted.The prisoners were beginning to rise in force, for they saw freedomlooming before them. There were fights between them and the guards,and terrible happenings took place, for the guards were armed and theprisoners were not. But as fast as some of the Germans fell they werestripped of their guns and ammunition, and the weapons turned by theprisoners against their former captors.

  All this while Tom and Jack were descending in their plane. As yet theywere uncertain whether they were to be able to rescue Leroy or not. Theycould not distinguish him at that height, though from the enthusiasticmanner in which several of the newly liberated ones waved at theon-coming aeroplanes, it would seem that they were of that arm of theservice, and appreciated what was about to happen.

  Nearer and nearer to the ground flew Tom and Jack. And then, to theirhorror, they saw that several Germans had set up two machine guns torake the prison yard, which was still filled with excited captives. TheGermans were determined that as few as possible of their late captivesshould find freedom.

  Tom acted on the instant, by sending the plane in a different direction,to enable Jack to use his machine gun. And Jack understood this, for,with a shout of defiance, he turned his weapon on the closely packedGermans around their machine guns.

  For a moment they stood and some even tried to swerve the guns about toshatter the dropping aeroplane. But Jack's fire was too fierce. He wipedout the nest, and this danger was averted.

  A moment later Tom had the machine to earth, and it ran along the unevenand shell-torn ground, coming to a rest not far from what had been theouter fence of the prison camp. A group of Allied captives, newly freed,rushed forward. Tom and Jack, removing their goggles, looked eagerly fora sight of Harry Leroy. They did not see him, but they saw that whichrejoiced them, and this was more aeroplanes coming to their aid, andalso a column of infantry on the march across a distant valley. Thestars and stripes were in the van, and at this the rescuers and theprisoners set up a cheer. It meant that the Germans were beaten at thatpoint.

  "Where's Harry Leroy? Is he among the prisoners?" cried Jack to severalof the liberated ones who crowded around the machine. There would be noquestion now of trying to save some one, a rush by mounting to the airwith him. The advance of the Americans and the Allies was sufficientlystrong to hold the prison position wrested from the Germans.

  "Was Harry Leroy among you?" asked Tom, of the joy-crazed prisoners.Many were Americans, but there were French, Italian, Russian, Belgianand British among the motley throng.

  Before any one could answer him there was a hoarse shout, and from someplace where they had been hiding a squad of German soldiers rushedat the group of recent prisoners about Tom and Jack. Their guns hadbayonets fixed, and it was the evident purpose of the Huns to makeone last rush on the prisoners near the ae
roplane to kill as many aspossible.

  The Germans were a sufficiently strong force, and none of theseprisoners was armed. They began to scatter and run for shelter, and Tornand Jack became aware that matters were not to be as easy as they hadexpected.

  But fortunately the fixed machine gun on the aeroplane, which was nearthe pilot's seat, pointed straight at the oncoming Huns. With a cry Tomsprang to the cockpit and quickly had the weapon spitting bullets at thefoe. Then Jack saw his chance, and, climbing up to his seat, he swunghis gun about so that it, too, raked the Germans.

  They came on with the desperation and courage of despair, but the steadyfiring was at last too much for them. They broke and ran--what were leftof them alive--in what was a veritable rout, and this ended the lastdanger for that immediate time and place.

  Other aeroplanes dropped down to help consolidate the victory, and theexplosion of some American shells at a point beyond the prison camptold its own story. The artillery had moved up to keep pace with theadvancing infantry. The big battle had been won by Pershing's men, andthe air service boys had not only done their share, but they had beeninstrumental in delivering a number of prisoners.

  As the last of the Germans fled and Tom and Jack leaned back, well nighexhausted by the strain of the fighting, a voice cried:

  "Good work, old scouts! I knew you'd come for me sooner or later. Atleast I hoped you would!"

  They turned to see Harry Leroy walking slowly toward them.

  Harry Leroy it was, but wounds, illness, and imprisonment had worked aterrible change in him. He was but the ghost of his former sturdy self.Still it was their chum and the brother of Nellie Leroy, and Tomand Jack knew they had kept the promise made to the sister. They hadeffected the rescue which the offensive made possible.

  "Hurray!" cried Tom. "It's really you then, old scout!"

  "What's left of me--yes. Oh, but it's good to see the flag again!" andhe pointed to the colors on the aeroplane and on the advancing bannersof the infantry. "And it's good to see you again! I'd about given up,and so had most of us, when we heard the shooting and knew something wasgoing on. But how did it happen? How did you get here, and how did youknow I was here?"

  "Go easy!" advised Tom with a grin. "One question at a time. Can youride in our bus? If you can we'll take you back with us. The others willbe taken care of soon, I fancy, for our boys will soon be in permanentoccupation here. Will you come back with us?"

  "Will I? Say, I'll come if I have to hitch on behind, like a can to adog's tail!" cried Leroy, and, weak and ill-nourished as he was, it wasevident that the sight of his former comrades had already done him muchgood.

  So now that the position was well won by the Americans and the Allies,Tom and Jack turned their machine about, wheeled it to a good takingoff place, and with Harry Leroy as a passenger, though it made the placerather crowded, they flew back over the recent battleground, and totheir own aerodrome, where Harry and some other prisoners, broughtthrough the air by other birdmen, were well taken care of.

  The great battle was not yet over, for there was fighting up and downthe line, and in distant sectors. But it was going well for Pershing'sforces.

  "And now," remarked Harry, when he had had food and had washed and hadbegun to smoke, "tell me all about it." He was in the quarters assignedto Tom Raymond and Jack Parmly, being their guest.

  "Well, there isn't an awful lot to tell," Tom said, modestly enough. "Weheard you were in trouble, and came after you; that's all. How did youlike your German boarding house?"

  "It was fierce! Terrible! I can't tell you what it means to be free.But I'd like to send word to my folks that I'm all right. I suppose theyhave heard I was a prisoner."

  "Yes," answered Tom. "In fact, you can talk to one of the family soon.That is, as soon as you can go to Paris."

  "Talk to a member of the family? Go to Paris? What do you mean?" Harryfairly shouted the words.

  "Your sister Nellie is staying with friends of ours," said Tom. "We'lltake you to her."

  "Nellie here? Great Scott! She said she was coming to the front, but Ididn't believe her! Say, she is some sister!"

  "You said it!" exclaimed Tom, with as great fervor as Harry used.

  "Didn't you get the bundles we dropped?" asked Jack. "The notes and thepackages of chocolate?"

  "Not a one," 'replied Harry. "I was looking for some word, but nonecame, after one of the airmen told me he had dropped my glove. But Iknew how it was--you didn't get a chance to send any word."

  "Oh, but we did!" cried Tom, and then he told of the dropping of thepackages.

  But, as Leroy related, he had been transferred from that camp a few daysbefore.

  Two of the packets fell among the prisoners, who, after trying in vainto send them to Harry, partook of the good things to eat, which theymuch needed themselves. They were given to the ill prisoners, and thenotes were carefully hidden away. Some time after the war Harry receivedthem, and treasured them greatly as souvenirs.

  "But we didn't make any mistake this time," said Tom. "We have you now."

  "Yes," agreed Harry with a smile, "you have me now, and mighty glad I amof it."

  A few days later, when Harry was better able to travel, he went to seeNellie in Paris, a message having been sent soon after the big battle,to tell her that he was rescued and as well as could be expected.

  "But if it hadn't been for Tom and Jack I don't believe I'd be therenow," said Harry to his sister, as he sat in the homelike apartment ofthe Gleasons.

  "I know you wouldn't," said Nellie. "They said they'd rescue you andthey did. We shall never be able to thank them enough--but we can try!"

  She looked at Tom, and he--well, I shall firmly but kindly have toinsist that what followed is neither your affair nor mine.

  And now, though you know it as well as I do, my story has come to anend. At least the present chronicle of the doings of the air serviceboys has nothing further to offer. Their further adventures will berelated in another volume to be entitled: "Air Service Boys Flying forVictory."

  But it was not the end of the fighting, and Tom and Jack did not ceasetheir efforts. Harry Leroy, too, was eager to get back into the contestagain, and he did, as soon as he had sufficiently recovered.

  He told some of his experiences while a prisoner among the Germans, andsome things he did not tell. They were better left untold.

  However, I should like to close my story with a more pleasant scene thanthat, and so I invite your attention, one beautiful Sunday morning toParis, when the sun was shining and war seemed very far away, though itwas not. Two couples are going down a street which is gay with flowerstands. There are two young men and two girls, the young men wearthe aviation uniforms of the Americans. They walk along, chatting andlaughing, and, as an aeroplane passes high overhead, its motors droningout a song of progress, they all look up.

  "That's what we'll be doing to-morrow," observed Tom Raymond.

  "Yes," agreed Jack Parmly.

  "Oh, hush!" laughed one of the girls. "Can't you stay on earth one day?"

  And there on earth, in such pleasant company, we will leave the AirService Boys.

  THE END